Abstract Background The growing phenomenon of esports during the last decade have sparked the rise of a billion dollar industry. Professional esport teams are now competing in arenas with an audience of millions watching at home. Virtual teams have been used actively since the 1990’s and are now the standard structure in esport organizations. Problem Most of the organizations in esports are based virtually which means that the team members act and communicate in a virtual environment. The explosive growth of esports have resulted in an industry with limited managerial experience. This have resulted in increasing difficulties managing and maintaining teams in esports organizations. Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore how an esport organization can manage processes to achieve effective performance. This study is conducted to expand the knowledge on the role of a manager in esports organizations. Method The empirical data in this study was gathered using a qualitative approach. Six semi-structured interviews were conducted with a managers and two players in two different esport organizations. The empirical data was complimented and compared with previous literature on virtual team performance. Results The empirical findings together with previous academic literature was analyzed to form several processes and implications that ultimately can lead an esport organization to better performance. The academic literature on virtual teams mostly match the empirical findings with a few important differences. The results offered an insight into the processes that an organization can utilize to achieve better performing teams.

Background:           In 2019, the esport industry is expected to become a billion-dollar                                  industry. This new industry has presented rapid growth in recent times                                  which has led to new organizations and companies being formed to                                  capitalize on this opportunity. However, the creation of this new industry                                  has presented a new area of consumption where transfer of pre-existing                                  knowledge is not viable. This leads us to the question; how does one                                  interact with this newly formed industry and its followers?   Purpose:                  The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how esport organizations                                  interact with their brand communities and explore what they achieve                                  through such interactions.   Method:                  Empirical data has been gathered from esport organizations that has one                                  or several teams competing in their highest national league. The                                  gathering of data was done through semi-structured interviews. The data                                  was later analyzed using literature and conclusions were drawn from this.   Conclusion:             The evidence suggests that esport organizations puts more emphasis on                                  online platforms and interactions than offline interactions when                                  interacting with their brand communities. It was also found that esport                                  organizations emphasize a feeling of inclusion and positivity which could                                  act as an asset both in terms of expanding the reach of their brand                                  community and attracting new sponsorships.